According to Willbert (2012) in the article, prohibiting cigarette use in the US; very beneficial for citizens, he has noted that, there is no any nationwide federal ban prohibiting people from smoking in public places in the United States because the congress have not taken a serious concern on the issue. Therefore, most smoking bans in the US are enactments of the occupational safety and health laws, state laws as well as local criminal laws. Hence, smoking laws are not consistent but they vary widely throughout the US. Some states have not controlled smoking at all, other states have regulated smoking but only in certain areas whereas some states prohibits smoking nearly in all the places including outdoor areas.
New York municipalities, Dallas, Boston and Honolulu have finally passed a bill to stop smoking in public places, just like in California and Deleware. This bill is planned to take effect from July 24th and it will apply to all public places, with exemption for fraternal clubs, outdoor areas for the restaurants without fixed roof tops and private homes. Utah, Vermont and Florida have prohibited smoking in public places, but these states allow for smoking to take place in stand alone restaurants. This move to stop smoking is timely since smoking has got a massive health effect on the smoker as well as the second hand smoke to the neighbor. Usually the people who work at the bars find it hard to accommodate the smoke that is released from the cigar of their clients, and they are sometimes forced to tolerate them simply because the work is a means of living to them. Actually smoking in a restaurant is disgusting because no one wants to inhale the smoke that is coming from your mouth. Americans want smoking to be prohibited in all restaurants, they believe that smoking do not go in hand with eating and that the two do not mix well. In fact from the studies done, many researches have found out that most Americans are against smoking in restaurants than bars. However, the Americans have found it comfortable to accommodate the smokers in designated smoking areas.
Prohibiting smoking in the restaurants will help many people to enjoy their meals. They will no longer need to tolerate the smoke which in many occasions is choking and usually makes it hard for them to enjoy their delicacy. Having smoke around while you try to enjoy your meal is not pleasing to many and surely no one wants to choke or eat while the funny cigar smoke and smell is scattered all over the place. In deed the smoke from cigar smells bad and it makes the restaurant to stink terribly, thus people should really stop such habits. On this basis I think the prohibition is very good since people will start eating in a smoke free environment (OSHA, 2007), prohibiting cigarette.
Secondly, smoking in a public place is not good for the pub occupants and thus it is with much relief that I welcome the ban. When you smoke in a public place, the people around you are going to inhale the smoke that comes from your cigar and this is going to affect their health. This is called passive smoking and it is equally dangerous to the individuals’ health just like the cigar is dangerous to the smoker. In fact, from the previous researches it has been investigated and established that it is more dangerous than active smoking. So to avoid this kind of danger and problem, the cigarettes smokers are kindly requested to stop smoking in public places including restaurants (Guindon and Boisclair, 2009), Past current and future trend in cigarette smoking.
Second hand smoke is very dangerous to non smokers and it hinders them from enjoying the peace and serenity of the surrounding environment. And usually smokers think that they have a freedom of smoking and therefore they just smoke anywhere they feel like, but they do forget that people also have the freedom of life which they struggle so much to take away from them due to second hand smoke when they do it in the public places. Actually smoking is a boring and a nasty act that makes the smokers to produce bad breadth forcing people around them to flee away whenever they open their mouths to converse. It makes it hard for people around them to pick a conversation with them because the bad breath is so serious and nasty that no body can be willing to tolerate. And since smoking in public places kills the smoker and the people around them, I don’t think neither can I imagine that people should be allowed to continue smoking in public places, and in so doing decides on their neighbors health due to second hand smoke which is very dangerous and exposes people to the risk of acquiring cancer (world health organization and the Institute for global cigarette control, John Hopkins school of public health, 2001), cigarette smoking should be banned in all states.
I also strongly feel that the New York law makers have finally taken a bold step to stop smoking in bars and restaurants including indoor public places. And the smokers will now be forced to understand the non smokers. They should realize that smoking is neither a healthy habit nor a good practice, for both self and public and on this basis no person should have it forced on them by others. Since second hand smoke is more dangerous than smoking the cigar itself, I agree with the ban inside restaurants and closed quarter events (Occupational Hazard, 2007), Cigarette smoking is not good for health.
In conclusion I want to concur with the New York law makers on the final brave decision they have put into place, banning cigarette smoking in restaurants and bars. In deed I believe that smoking should be prohibited in the public places because from the recent researches it is now factual that second hand smoke is more dangerous and presents to non smokers many serious and dangerous health problems. With second hand smoking being serious than active smoking, if a person decides to live a lifestyle in which their life is at great health risk, they should not extend the danger, or create a health problem/hazard to the people around them. Hence, banning smoking in these areas is going to give the elderly, kids, babies and pregnant mothers an opportunity to avoid risk posed to them by the second hand smoke. In addition, studies have revealed that smoking can give people different kinds of cancers and health problems, thus with the prohibition, the people around the smokers have a reason to smile since they can have control on their lives as smokers smoke in smoke zones at their privacy.
References
Guindon, G., Boisclair, D. (2009). Past current and future trend in cigarette smoking. The international bank for reconstruction and development. Washington DC.
Occupational Hazard (2007). Cigarette smoking is not good for health. Mother Jones. New York.
OSHA (2007). Prohibiting cigarette. Federal release, Washington DC.
The world health organization and the Institute for global cigarette control, John Hopkins school of public health (2001). Cigarette smoking should be banned in all states. World health organization. P. 5-7.
Willbert, J. (2012). Prohibiting cigarette use in the US; very beneficial for citizens. Yale University press